On Sunday, I was not attentive to my schedule and had it sprung on me that it was my turn to give the communion meditation at our church. So, I quickly turned to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, which we are reading in our Sunday School class, and stumbled again upon the following brilliant passage. I share it again here, because all the facets that Bonhoeffer locates in the Eucharist here are central to what John and I are calling Slow Church: gratitude, the centrality of Jesus (I'll have more to say on this point later this week), the unifying power of eating together, the joy and … [Read more...]

I think baseball should be the official sport of the Slow Church movement.I love baseball. When I can, I listen to or watch games at home. I read books about baseball. (I'm currently reading Bruce Weber's magnificent As They See 'Em: Travels in the Land of Umpires.) I play catch or wiffle ball at home with my daughter. And I like to take in games at the high school, the local short-season single-A team, and even the very occasional big league game. The two things I have most on mind these days are Slow Church and baseball. Here is my first, albeit ham-fisted (and self-indulgent!), attempt t … [Read more...]

Here's a video clip of Alan Roxburgh talking about "The Call to the Parish" at The Inhabit Conference last month...John and I both have been challenged by Roxburgh's work, and especially his recent book, Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood (Baker, 2011 -- Read my review of this book on The Englewood Review of Books website). … [Read more...]

[ On July 5-7, The Ekklesia Project will hold its annual gathering in Chicago, which will be on the theme of Slow Church. Between now and July, we will be running a series of lguest reflections here by folks connected with the E.P. We've asked guest posters to reflect on the meaning of Slow Church from their own local contexts. More info on the E.P. gathering. ] Today’s reflection, the sixth in the series, is by Janice Love.Read the previous post in the series by Ted Lewis. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mou … [Read more...]

I rarely listen to music on the radio, but the other day I was flipping through the stations as I was driving and heard the opening riffs of the Barenaked Ladies' song "The Old Apartment." This song was a favorite of mine around about the time I graduated from college, so I turned it way up and reveled in the nostalgia. But in the midst of my revelry, the words caught my ear, and I realized that there was something profound here that I had never heard before: the song brings to the surface the deep grief we bear as a result of our hypermobility. … [Read more...]

Had a fabulous time over the last few days at the Academy of Parish Clergy annual gathering in Dayton, Ohio. I found the diverse group of mostly mainline pastors to be extraordinarily hospitable, specifically in inviting me to represent The Englewood Review of Books there (Thanks, Bob Cornwall for the invitation!) and in allowing me to share bits of our story here at Englewood Christian Church (briefly recounted in my recent ebook, The Virtue of Dialogue). Also, it was wonderful to meet Carol Howard Merritt, who was the main conference speaker, and chat with her about some of the challenges f … [Read more...]

My pastor, Bob Henry, read this wonderful blog post this morning at Silverton Friends Church. The post is called "The Hill" and it was written by Mike Huber, pastor of West Hills Friends, a Quaker meeting in Portland. The blog post reminds me of something Wendell Berry wrote in a poem called "How To Be a Poet (to remind myself)":There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.The apostle Paul says followers of Jesus are ambassadors of reconciliation. That reconciliation work extends to - and is perhaps even rooted in - our particular places. Thus, … [Read more...]